This Healthy Lentil Salad Is A Keeper

Let's face it: You're busy — too busy to mess around with complicated cooking at the end of the day. Still, dinner should be more than just a cup full of cereal and the dream of a brighter tomorrow. Enter: Jenny Rosenstrach, a busy mom who makes dinner happen with style, simplicity, and just the right amount of sizzle. Whether or not you're cooking for kids, we love her easy, delicious approach. In fact, we love it so much, we'll be sharing one of her recipes every week, so you can have a life — and a REALLY good meal, too.

In the mid-1980s, after a long day of wrestling with algebra and 7th-grade-girl politics, my best friend Jeni and I would head to her house to decompress with a Ms. Pac-man marathon. I remember the two of us walking into the sunny foyer of their tall Victorian, dumping our CB jackets and LeSportSacs in a big mound on the floor (so thoughtful), and then, like programmed robots who had no say in the matter, heading straight for the kitchen.

Remember when Bugs Bunny would smell something delicious and he would literally float in the air following the wafting aroma? That was what it was like walking into that house. More often than not, Jeni’s mother Rosa would be in her kitchen cooking up a roast, baking a pie, or concocting dinner from one of the stained cards or yellowed New York Times clippings that were jammed into a little wooden recipe box on the counter.

I felt so comfortable in their home that I would open the refrigerator and poke around for something to eat without even asking. Unlike in my house, where the idea of a jackpot after school snack was an Entenmann’s chocolate frosted doughnut dipped in a glass of whole milk, a jackpot at Jeni’s was a tupperware container filled with leftovers from dinner the night before. And, on the best days, one of those leftovers was Rosa’s lentil salad. There was nothing terribly fancy about the recipe — it was made with lentils, scallions, peppers, and a tarragon-spiked vinaigrette — but something magical would happen overnight when all those flavors mingled. I would’ve bypassed the entire Entenmann’s section in Grand Union for a bowl of the stuff.

I probably ate the lentil salad 800 times in my childhood, but I don’t think one of those times was in a proper dinner table setting. The only way I can remember eating it is straight from the tupperware container, both Jeni and I sitting on the Marimekko-cushioned kitchen bench fighting each other for every last bite. And, even though I’ve since made some version of the recipe in my own kitchen 8-- (most recently last week alongside a simple salmon), that still remains my favorite way to eat it.

Last week, I had the salad with fresh market spinach (sauteed in garlic and olive oil) and a salmon I’m testing for the book. That one is not ready for prime time yet, so in the meantime you can just use this basic salmon recipe.

Rosa’s Lentil Salad
For so long I approached cooking lentils like cooking risotto — that is, I felt I needed to be very scientific about the amount of liquid to lentils I was using. Once I started approaching cooking lentils like cooking pasta it was somewhat liberating. Also, Rosa’s lentil salad was always made from regular brown lentils, but I try to sub in belugas — which hold their shape better and look so pretty — whenever I have them on hand.

In a medium pot, boil lentils in broth-water combo, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes (15 if you are using belugas, more like 20 for regular lentils). While lentils are cooking, make your dressing by whisking together mustard, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

When lentils are tender, but still holding their shape, drain. Toss lentils with scallions, pepper, thyme, and vinaigrette. (You may not need all the vinaigrette, so drizzle it in instead of dumping it until it looks right.)

National Friendship Day is today, August 2nd. To celebrate: text your besties, Instagram a pic of you together from middle school, and remember the countless times they brought you ice cream during a breakup or stood in front of you during a wardrobe malfunction. In honor of this nostalgic (and well deserved) holiday, read

Today officially marks the beginning of National Brownie Month! Let's all gather hands and share a story about the first time we enjoyed a brownie. What's that, you say? You can't remember the first time you had one? Of course you can't! And neither can I! Brownies are the ultimate American dessert, so deeply embedded into read